First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Sells 51,651 Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

Key Points

• First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. reduced its FirstEnergy stake by 15.2%, selling 51,651 shares and retaining 287,228 shares valued at approximately $12.45 million. Institutional investors collectively own 89.41% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally favorable outlook, with six Buy ratings and five Holds, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $51.27. Several firms recently lowered targets to between $47 and $49.
• FirstEnergy shares opened at $45.24, while the company reported quarterly EPS of $0.50 and revenue of $3.68 billion. It also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.465 per share, equivalent to a 4.1% annualized yield.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 15.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 287,228 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 51,651 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $12,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.4% in the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 6,839 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 44.4% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 754 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,572 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,216,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. CX Institutional grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 7,776 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $54.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. New Street Research set a $47.00 price target on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Mizuho set a $47.00 price objective on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.27.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of FE stock opened at $45.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.43. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 1 year low of $42.67 and a 1 year high of $52.34. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $45.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.51 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 10.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.4650 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 98.94%.

About FirstEnergy

FirstEnergy Corp. is an electric utility holding company focused primarily on regulated electricity transmission and distribution. Through its operating companies, the company delivers electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and maintains the infrastructure needed to support reliable service.

FirstEnergy's utility subsidiaries include Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison in Ohio; Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power and West Penn Power in Pennsylvania; Jersey Central Power & Light in New Jersey; and Mon Power and Potomac Edison in West Virginia and Maryland.

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